It is the sixth day of war, as fr om Hamas, with the coastal region# under extraordinary bombardment by## Israeli jets and artillery# and the siege tightening.

AMNA NAWAZ: Here on the ground, nearly# 3,000 people have already died in less## than a week of brutal violence.

In Israel,# more than 1,200 people have been killed.## That includes 27 Americans.

The U.S. government# now says it will begin operating charter flights## tomorrow to evacuate any of the more# than 100,000 Americans currently here.

And, so far, 1,500 Palestinians have been killed.# That includes 45 members of the same extended## family all killed in an airstrike on their Gaza# home tonight, according to officials there.

We begin tonight in Gaza with our# colleague Leila Molana-Allen reporting.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: In the heavily bombarded# Gaza Strip, a frantic effort to find survivors.## Gazans desperately search mounds of rubble# for signs of life with their bare hands.

This is the densely populated# Al-Shati refugee camp,## hit by one of Israel's latest acts of retribution.

MAN (through translator): You can see the# destruction.

We have martyrs under the## rubble.

We pose no danger.

There were children# there.

What di LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: In the# nearby Al-Shifa Hospital,## the horrors of war stream in.

Th Inside, the hallways crammed with the injured,## hospital staff scrambling to treat them,# among them, the bloodied Soulieh's children.

They were having# breakfast when their house was bombed.

KHADIJA SOULIEH, Gaza Resident (through# translator): I didn't even see the house.## There was nothing left of it.

Al kids.

We have nothing to do with# any of this.

We have nothing at all.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Hospital director# Dr. Muhammad Abu Salima says Al-Shifa## no longer has enough beds for the# overwhelming number of patients.

DR. MUHAMMAD ABU SALIMA, Director, Al-Shifa# Hospital (through translator): The hospital## is u such numbers under any the day or in any# war.

Families have been exterminated.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: For the families# of the dead, there is no hope left,## the loss unbearable as they mourn in# constant fear.

Humanit with the city under siege, its# hospitals risk turning into morgues.

Amid such carnage, Secretary of State Antony# Blinken touched down in Israel this morning.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. Secretary of State: Good to# see you.

Sorry it's under these circumstances.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: His host, Israeli# renewed his uncompromising warning to Hamas.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime# Minister: Hamas is ISIS.

And as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Blinken doubled down# on U.S. support.

But as Israeli forces## intensify their military campaign,# he delivered a word of caution.

ANTONY BLINKEN: It's so important to take every# possible precaution to avoid harming civi LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Horrifying new# evidence of Hamas' campaign of terror## continues to surface.

This kibbutz# was reduced to ashes.

Video to show bullet holes splintering# the walls of a child's bedroom.

Secretary Blinken described# images of victims he saw.

ANTONY BLINKEN: A baby, an# infant, riddled with bullets,## soldiers beheaded, young people burned alive.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: And as Hamas'# indiscriminate barrage of rockets## continues, the fighting has spread far# from Gaza and This morning, Syrian media reported Israel struck# international airports in Damascus and Aleppo.

On## the border with Lebanon, Israeli forces and# Hezbollah fighters continue to exchange fire.

We're heading up to the very northern border of# Israel with Lebanon, and things are always tense## here, because Hezbollah dominates the territory# just across the border.

In the last few days, there's been a lot of rocket fire back and# forth across this border.

And, last night,## there was a false alarm where, for a few minutes,## everyone thought the war that they'd# feared In the town of Shomera, just three miles from## the border, Smadar and Momi Amsalem were# prep SMADAR AMSALEM, Shomera, Israel, Resident# (through translator): We received an alert,## and they told us LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: As the barrages increase# and the likelihood of a cros the Israel Defense Forces have advised# everyone in this area to leave.

Swathes## of residents have headed south# to comparatively safer areas.

Aside from sporadic rocket fire,# Hezbollah has thus far stayed its## hand.

It says its red line to attack# Israel would be a ground invasion## of Gaza.

Prime Minister Netanyahu says# that invasion is Israel's only option.

SMADAR AMSALEM (through translator):# Yes, there are people who are worried.## They have little kids and babies,# LE ILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Samdar's was visiting# from Los Angeles with his four kids when## the weekend's terror attacks unfolded.

The family# fled home as soon as t But Momi and Smadar have lived through war# after war in their 60 years here.

Momi has## worked through every one, delivering# the eggs the area is famous for.

MOMI AMSALEM, Shomera, Israel, Resident (through# translator): my job is vital.

I need to supply## the eggs because people need to eat.

Even# under fire, you SMADAR AMSALEM (through translator):# We didn't leave and we're not going## to leave.

This is our co LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: But not everyone is so## sure.

The closer you get Here in Shlomi, 18-year-old Nehorai Zeno# narrowly escaped death when a Hezbollah## rocket hit his father's hair salon two days# ago.

He spends most days there hanging out## with friends and helping his father.# Now the family's livelihood is gone.

NEHORAI ZENO, Shlomi, Israel, Resident# (through translator): It feels so strange## to know I coul LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Today, the family came# back to inspect for damage.

shaking with fear and too# traumatized to appear on camera,## told us she no longer trusts the Israeli# army or her government to keep her safe.# She's desperate to leave as soon as# possible and get her children to safety.

NEHORAI ZENO (through translator): Most# of my friends have left.

Some have stayed,## and some are really scared.

Overall,## I'm OK.

But my little brothers and# LE ILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Across the north, the same# question, to stay or to go.

And with the whole## country descending into violence, where to go,# meanwhile, coming in the opposite direction are## the tens of thousands of army reservists who've# been deployed to Northern Israel in recent days.

As hostilities on the northern border intensify,# towns and villages here are clearing out.

Here## in the village of Zar'it just a quarter# of a mile from the Lebanese border,it's## completely evacuated, the only people around IDF# soldiers who've been sent up here t Joining soldiers are the few residents# staunchly determined to stay and fight## and the local militias made up of townspeople# who have fought these border battles for years.## From their outposts, they have watched in# recent days as incoming fire killed and## wounded both Israelis and Arab Israelis# living here and the IDF's retaliation.

With such an unprecedented# number of soldiers deployed,## locals here say the IDF is struggling to get# them enough supplies.

So, Israeli civili have stepped in.

At this restaurant just# south of Shlomi, the owners and staff## have been preparing hundreds of hot meals to# distribute to soldiers for the past three days.

SANDRINE HAZAN, Restaurant Owner# (through translator): There are so## here.

So they're here to protect us.

So we# just want to give them a little something,## something to eat, a little# gift to give them strength.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: As the drums of# war bang faster and louder.

Similar## scenes of unity and preparation# are playing out across the coun Israelis readying themselves for what they# believe will be a brutal, but necessary battle AMNA NAWAZ: And joining me here live# in Tel Aviv is Leila Molana-Allen.

Leila, fantastic reporting,# as always.

Good to see you.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Thank you so much, A AMNA NAWAZ: You know n Lebanon so well.

You have seen how# quic What did it feel like when# you spent the day there today?

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: It was extremely# tense.

The str they're so empty, and people aren't hiding# inside now.

They're leaving in their drov You see people sort of walking out# with a bag, getting it in the car,## moving off as fast as they can, and then# some people wandering ar whether or not they should, because,# of course, the IDF has sugges they leave.

But they have not said that# they have to do.

That is their An d a lot of people who live up near this# border live there because they beli that's where they should be living and they# want to stay and fight.

And fight is w they're going to do.

So all these IDF soldiers# have been sent up there.

But as you have these local militias I was talking about.

Now, they are so concerned about being# targeted, th they would appear on camera.

They work directly# in front of that Lebanese border.

And you can# see the sights of the people that they're# fighting from where they sit every day.

And they were talking about the sights# they have been seeing the last few days,## militants trying to come over the walls# there.

They have been si t there with their guns all day.

And it's# such a different relationshi people who've been fighting these border# battles, as I said, there for years.

They're really used to this fight.# And then these young IDF reservists,# many of whom have come up from centralized Israel,## even from studying abroad, they're technicians# in lawyers.

I met people with all sorts of# modern jobs, haven't served for years.

And they have suddenly been sent up to# this active war zone.

So there's a very## interesting relationship going on with# those people there.

And they're so wandering around, these young soldiers, ready# for something, but t Now they're getting a huge amount of support from# all these local volunteers who ar on, who are saying, you're here to fight for# us.

But it is a very tense situation.

You see all these people streaming in that they# really feel something's about to start.

And,## of course, they are trying to# protect these multiple borders now.

And this is where this decision comes# in of what these people have to do whether they're going to stay, whether they're# going to go.

I met one woman who was so petrified,## she was shaking.

I had to hold her while# she was speaking.

And she was saying:## "My babies.

I don't know# what to do about my babies."

She didn't have a car.

She was asking us# if w out because she was so afraid of what was# coming.

And she was absolutely desperate.## People really are feeling like the# entire country is falling apart.

And we have now had another escalation,# which is that Human Rights Watch have## just confirmed that they're reporting# says that white phosphorus was used## by Israeli forces in both Gaza and on the# Lebanese border in the last few days.

Now,## white phosphorus is a substance# that burns human skin horrifically.

It can disperse into the air.

Hundreds of# pellets from each of these dispersals comes## down.

And if it hits you in the skin, it will# burn you down to the bone.

It can burn your## lungs out.

Just 10 percent of burns from this# can kill a human being.

And if it doesn the lifelong injuries are horrifying, as well as# the fact that it can burn down entire So, if this is the case, that's a# major escalation in the fighting## and also a terrifying prospect for# people on both sides of the bord in terms of how angry that kind of# weaponry being used could make peop AMNA NAWAZ: Leila, you have also reported on how## this conflict here will have ripp You mentioned, of course, Syrian officials# saying Israeli airstrikes crippled their main airports today.

What# should we understand about that?

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Well, so this is very# interesting when this happened because the explanation could be# that it was a retaliation for number of strikes coming in from Syria or Lebanon.

But the Iranian foreign minister is in Iraq at# the mome tomorrow and then to Lebanon afterwards.

And# there's suspicion that this might have been## an attempt to stop essentially a council of# war.

People think that foreign mi trip is to drum up support for Hamas after# the massive attack that happened, but,## of course, everyone suspects was# funded by the Iranian government.

So, potentially, this attack happened in# order to try and put out at the same time, so that he couldn't# arrive and that meeting wouldn't happen.

AMNA NAWAZ: Leila Molana-Allen# reporting for us tonight.

Leila, thank you so much -- Geoff, back to